Week...passing...so...slowly.
At the risk of sounding like an 80s cliche, thank God it's Friday. It's a good thing I was listening to NPR this morning, because they announced that Congress passed a bill that specifically required my personal motivation to increase at least enough to get my sorry a$$ out of bed. I'm not saying they passed some random bill that aligned with my morals and made me feel good, I'm saying the bill was worded as "Old Coot, your mood and motivation shall improve at least enough for you to get out of bed." The Sheriff was at my door with a hard copy mere minutes later, thank God I was already out of bed.Third Thursday
Prior to my Thursday Night Run, I received an e-mail from one of the guys letting me know he wouldn't be at the run and not to wait for him. When I mentioned it at the meeting spot, someone said "Oh, he must be at Third Thursday with his people." There was no further explanation, so I said "Yeah, must be."
What the hell is Third Thursday? And aren't we his people? I assumed it was a Jewish thing, which is sort of my go to answer when I can't explain why people are doing things I don't understand. Typically, it is a Jewish thing so it's usually a safe bet. They do a lot of things that we non-practicing Christians don't know about. And with a name like Third Thursday, it very well could have some religious base to it.
After the run we were trying to figure out where to eat, and someone suggested we go to Third Thursday, then pick a place downtown to eat. At this point I had to admit my ignorance and ask what the hell Third Thursday was. It turns out that all summer they've been holding this thing downtown on the third Thursday of every month (hence the name) where all of the shops and restaurants and whatnot had musicians playing, tables set up, wares to sell; all kind of shit was going down. It was a real nightlife on North St. (from 5-8 PM). Who knew?
We got there towards the end, but there were still people everywhere, and not the North Street regulars who are covered in boils and oversized t-shirts. We dined on burritos, empanadas and freshly brewed iced tea at a table on the sidewalk outside of Pancho's (154 North St.) and just enjoyed the evening. What a great idea! Too bad I didn't find out about it until what's probably the last one.YKK Failure
The next time you're wearing clothes that have a zipper, take a second to look at that zipper. Chances are, it's made by YKK. As a matter of fact, short of buying some shoddy piece of disposable apparel I can't think of anything that doesn't have a YKK zipper. Except my favorite khakis.
I won't delve into where and how I noticed, but the other day I saw that my Old Navy khakis have, get this, an Old Navy zipper. Really. My first thought was that I got jipped, and that I wasn't really sure I could trust this zipper the same way I'd trust a YKK branded fastener. My mistrust was not misplaced...
The next day (yes, I wear the same pants more than once in a row) I was walking to the cafeteria looking dapper in those same khakis, a nice shirt and a tie (it was Shirt and Tie Thursday after all), when this guy says to me "Hey, lookin' sharp. Your barn door's open." At the time I remember thinking that after a few and a half decades of wearing pants, there's no reason to get caught with your fly open. But maybe there was a reason...
I deflect all blame from me onto the Old Navy zipper. I claim wardrobe malfunction; I am not at fault.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Finally Made it to Friday
Double Hump Day
This whole week my mind has been one day ahead of the calendar. Added to that is the fact that this is a long week for us at work, so it feels like I have to work 6 days instead of 5. I don't even like working 1 day, but you can only get paid for not working for so long. I might have to take a few hours off tomorrow, especially if it's nice out.Autumn Already?
Yesterday I decided that no matter how bad I felt about it, I was going to take a rest day. That doesn't mean sitting on the couch eating tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, it means no running or biking.
Conveniently I had overdone it on the bike four days in a row so my body was screaming for a break. Not literally, but I was starting to get run down. I took full advantage of this to tackle a few chores around the house that needed tackling. Light chores like mowing the lawn and folding laundry, but chores nonetheless.
As I raced to finish mowing before it got too dark, I realized that it wasn't even 8:00 yet. WTF! It's August dammit, shouldn't it be light out later still? My bike rides on Monday and Tuesday ended up a little scary as it got dark before we got back, which means only one thing: I need more equipment so I can still ride. It's not so dark that I can't see, it's just dark enough that cars might not see me. I have some reflective stuff and blinky stuff, but you can't be too visible on a bike.I'm Heading Across the Country
A friend of mine just pointed out this site to me. I signed up and if I can remember to enter all of my miles (as if the two other logs I use aren't enough) I'll be able to track my progress across this great country of ours. As a matter of fact, I'm putting together a team of people I run/bike with so we can do it together. If it all goes well, I'll keep y'all posted on our progress.
DR, if you're reading this, I'm sending all of my best Top Choice, Grade A, #1, Premium Cut vibes your way. If you aren't reading this, I'm still sending them your way.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Holy Rollers!
The title of this post is not Holy Rollers like churchies on motorcycles, but more like "Holy Smoke", but with "Rollers".
As you may have gathered from some of my recent posts, I'm becoming a cycling junkie and for a number of reasons I decided I needed a way to be able to ride during the winter± 7 Inches
Last night my new Kreiler Poly-Lyte Rollers were waiting for me at the side door when I got home from my ride. Having just ridden for a few hours, there was no way my ass wanted to get back into the saddle, but it's a new toy dammit. I carried the two boxes upstairs, carefully inspected the directions, gathered all the tools (one wrench) I needed and put them together. As you can see from the picture, it's a metal frame with three metal rollers and a rubber band. It's about that difficult to assemble too; 6 cap nuts with washers.
From the reviews I read, it sounded like some people had trouble assembling it, so I was on the lookout for a snag. It turns out it's just wicked easy to do, those people are just slow.
With my new toy assembled I was ready to give it a try. Because it's so difficult to get used to balancing yourself, they recommend you start in a doorway. I did that, but couldn't get onto the bike so I opted for a different doorway that I have outfitted with a pull-up bar.
Minutes later I was in the saddle and weaving all over the place (one hand on the pull-up bar). When I was looking at all of the roller choices out there on the futureweb, it seemed like the 15" wide ones would be almost overkill. Then, as I tried to balance myself, it dawned on me that I don't have ± 15 inches, I really only have ± 7 inches (the tire is about an inch wide). I can't even hold a line that tight walking or sometimes even sitting, let alone riding my bike on a round surface. Imagine balancing a quarter on its edge; not too tough. Now imagine balancing that same quarter on the edge of a dime; not so easy. The learning curve sho is steep.
What I did learn was that contrary to popular belief, you won't accelerate across the room if you do go off the side. It makes sense that if your wheels are spinning at 20+ MPH and you hit the floor that you'd go flying across the room, but in reality you don't have any forward momentum so you just end up peeling out on the floor and not going anywhere.I Stooped - Rant Warning
On my way to my ride yesterday I had gone about 1 mile when some genius in a pickup yelled "F*%&ing Bikers!" out the window as he passed. I gave him my standard smile and wave, ensuring he'd get no satisfaction out of it. About a mile and a half later, I was at an intersection and someone honked when the light changed. I didn't think anything of it, since the next light 100 yards ahead was also red. At the next light I stopped and when it was about to change back to green I started clicking into my pedal. Well, that a$$hole honked again. This time I whipped around, stooped to his level, and gave him a clear, concise "F&*$ YOU!"; the kind with a full beat between words. What an a$$hole! Wouldn't you know about 3/4 of the way through the intersection some other kindly gentleman in a pickup hollers "Get out of the road, f*@%ing bikers!" at me. I fired back with the middle finger. The next f^&#er who yelled something at me was getting a tire pump thrown at him.
Keep in mind that on a road bike you can accelerate from a standstill at least as quickly as a car, and I'm not in anyone's way. My taxes pay for the roads just as much as everyone else's, and in fact the no toothed meth-head who yelled at me the second time is undoubtedly more of a detriment to society. "Wipe the spray paint off your upper lip, jerk ass."
A suggestion was made that the next time someone yells something I present him with the canned ham. Just drop trou' (short for trousers) and keep riding.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Sunday is Funday
I started this post earlier this morning but I was having so much fun I didn't want to leave out one detail. Read on, friends and live in envy of my fun, fun Sunday.Once a Year Whether I Need it or Not
We all know the sayings: I get a haircut once a month whether I need it or not, I brush my teeth once a week whether I need it or not, and so on. Well tonight we get the annual visit of the Perseid meteor shower. According to the fine folks at msn.com, this annual meteor shower occurs when the earth passes through the dusty trail of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. You can read all about it here, if you're truly interested. But if you don't have the time, here's the skinny...
During the hours of 11PM through sunrise tonight (August 12th) you'll have the opportunity to see up to one meteor per minute given you're in a DARK area. If I can remember it, I'll be up in the State Forest armed with some chai tea and a blanket if necessary. Oh, and bug spray. So get out there, crane yo necks to the sky and watch the "Tears of St. Lawrence". The new moon means the show won't be drowned out with a bunch of lunar pollution.Training Update
Okay, today I took a ride on the Josh route, including a 12 mile warm-up from Stockbridge Bowl. Before you get all crazy, it takes roughly 10 miles to get warmed up on a bike, and the race route starts with a nasty hill. Plus it's just convenient to start at the Bowl.
When I pulled up to the Bowl to unload my bike, a couple rolled in shouting their times to eachother. From their times, I figured they were Joshing it today. I struck up a convo with them and sho nuff they were. We jabbered about the Josh a little, wished each other good luck both with the training and the race itself, and I hit the road.
As I pulled into Great Barrington where the race route starts, I tossed back my one and only energy gel. This would prove to be a real problem later on. You see, finely tuned athletes such as me need to kick back a gel every 45 minutes or so, or our blood sugar crashes, we get cranky and performance overall goes into the shitter. The Josh route is no place for a loss of energy, as each nasty hill is followed by another hill equal to or greater than the last in nastiness. By the end I was literally cursing every hill as if it had offended my mother or taken a bite of my sandwich without asking.
After the ride, I tossed the kayak into the water, stood in the cooling waters of the Bowl then set off on a slow, easy paddle. Nothing to report here. I shot the shit with a few people, mostly about the weather.
As I pulled back up to the boat launch this guy I met yesterday, whose boat had decided it was only going to steer in one direction, was launching his freshly repaired boat complete with who I can only assume were his sister and nieces (he mentioned them yesterday). I gave him some shit about taking his life and those of his kin in his hands with that boat of his, and he fired back with something alluding to the fact that I have been out in the kayak the last two days. What can I say, it was nice out.Big Up to the Po=Pos
This weekend must be a big weekend for Tanglewood (where the Boston Pops, BSO, etc. play in the summer), as Lenox was a madhouse. The police are out in full force directing traffic in a surprisingly efficient manner. Normally when the local cops are directing traffic it's a cluster f*&#. But as for Lenox, I have to hand it to these guys; they're out in the heat in uniform, directing thousands of clueless people in a well orchestrated dance. But what's even better is that as I approached, rounded, and passed Tanglewood in a low blood sugar rage, they gave me preference allowing me to cruise through each intersection unimpeded. They didn't have to hold up all the cars, but they did and for that I was/am thankful. If any of the Lenox Police are reading this, thanks. I did thank each one as I passed in a genuine tone to show my appreciation, but I thought they deserved a written thanks.
The Chief of Police will also be hearing from me.
Well, I gotta eat some dinner, watch a movie and head out to catch the meteor shower.
P.S. After my ride/paddle I sat on the porch sipping freshly brewed iced green tea and eating a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and lox. Life doesn't get much better than that.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Weekend Update
Tonight I'm going to take a break from my vacation report, because well, it's really dragging on. I might do one quick blast of a review to get it over with, and that'll be that. For now, here's the news from the front lines.Simple Quote
"E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business."<
Accounting Manager, Electric Boat Company
For those of you who don't get why this is funny, Electric Boat builds submarines for the US and UK Navies. They're also not known for passing info along to the people they work with, but I doubt that's the original quoter's intent. Having worked with some of EB's finest, I can attest to their poor communication skills.
Reprinted without permission from: http://www.mitchy.com/quotes.htmlNo Thanks, Just the Box it Came In
Anyone who has kids or was a kid at one time knows the best part of Christmas (sorry Jews) is the kickass boxes stuff comes in. As it turns out the same holds true for my less-than-appreciative cats.
Yesterday my entire agenda was rained out when the slight drizzle they predicted for the afternoon showed up as an incessant downpour somewhere in the middle of the night. After bagging my bike ride and returning to the warm confines of my bed, I slowly awoke, lazed around the house and somewhere around noon decided I needed to do SOMETHING. I decided there was no better day to head to Trader Joes than a rainy Friday off.
Long story short, while at Trader Joes I treated my cats to a double-wide cardboard cat scratcher doohickey, complete with catnip. So far they ate the catnip and have ground their gums (as cats do on anything with a corner: boxes, eye glasses, noses, toe nails, tables, post-biking calves, etc) on the corners of the box the scratching post came in. They have not, however, ground their nails into the perfect scratching surface within the box. Ingrates.Josh Billings Rampup
For those of you who don't know, I'm going to be participating in the area's foremost athletic event later this year. The event, The Josh Billings Runaground, is a triathlon consisting of a bike, paddle, run combination (in that order). Last year I was the paddler on a team of three. It was fun, but I thought it would be more fun to tackle the whole thing myself this year, also known as the Ironman division.
Not wanting to let myself down, I've been hitting the bike and kayak about as hard as I can safely do without injuring myself or getting fired from my job. The running on the other hand has been put on the back burner while I nurse a hamstring injury back to health. Last year I would have said that the running was my strong suit, but this year I'm not sure. I hope to be able to give it a strong attempt, but lately I've really been having a hard time. Send some healing vibes this way, please.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to head out to the race route to give my bike another shot at it. Historically I've ridden with people of all abilities and we end up waiting around at various points. The average pace (minus waiting) is usually pretty good, but if I get to rest every 20 minutes it hardly simulates race conditions. Tomorrow I'm going to give it hell, and follow up with a paddle around Stockbridge Bowl for good measure.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
